People in the British Columbia community of Grand Forks are hustling to get ahead of a deluge of melting snow and heavy rainfall after learning a costly lesson about flooding five years ago.

The community not far from the Canada-U. S. border is one of many under threat in B.C.害羞草研究所檚 southern and central Interior after a week of record temperatures and predicted rain combine for conditions ripe for flooding.

Grand Forks Mayor Everett Baker says they害羞草研究所檝e been shoring up the city害羞草研究所檚 defences since 2018 when 95 homes were lost to a flood and they want to avoid a similar situation this year.

Baker says they are keeping a close eye on the weather and focusing on areas of the downtown to protect businesses and infrastructure from the rising waters.

He says the province has supplied the city with temporary dams and sandbags, which are being installed with the help of a crew from the B.C. Wildfire Service.

Parts of the Village of Cache Creek and Okanagan Indian Band land are already under water, flooding homes, businesses and even Cache Creek害羞草研究所檚 firehall.

Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta says the water level in the village is the highest flood stage he害羞草研究所檚 seen, and sandbagging isn害羞草研究所檛 sufficient to keep the floodwaters at bay.

The village evacuated more than a dozen properties as a result, while the Okanagan Indian Band has ordered the evacuation of several properties along Okanagan Lake, west of Vernon.

In Grand Forks, Mayor Baker said he害羞草研究所檚 confident the city害羞草研究所檚 flood mitigation efforts will stave off the worst case scenario, though he knows other communities are being hard hit already.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檝e been watching what害羞草研究所檚 going on in Cache Creek and other communities,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淚 empathize because we were there.害羞草研究所�

His daughter害羞草研究所檚 home was affected in the last major flooding event, he said, giving him both a personal and professional perspective on the stress of dealing with potential catastrophes.

害羞草研究所淢yself and council and our city staff decided this time that we were going to try to be as proactive as possible and get out the protection that we can sooner than later,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淭hen hopefully we害羞草研究所檒l have done enough to protect the city.害羞草研究所�

In an update Thursday, Minister of Emergency Management Bowinn Ma said Grand Forks had done an 害羞草研究所渆normous amount害羞草研究所� of flood mitigation work that other communities could emulate.

She said the upgrade to the diking system is one important measure, but their flood mitigation strategy is about much more.

害羞草研究所淭hey害羞草研究所檝e actually actively worked with community members to move properties out of flood prone areas in a strategy known as planned retreat,害羞草研究所� Ma said. 害羞草研究所淭hese are very important strategies, they are difficult for communities to work through, and Grand Forks has managed to do that.害羞草研究所�

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